Combined shaft-support and antirattler.



Patented Ndv. l2, l90l.

' G. s. JOHNSON.

COMBINED SHAFT SUPPORT AND ANTIRA'TTLER.

(Application filed Mar. 23, .1901.)

(No Model.)

Jain 507 1 56 106.

' UNITE STATES PATENT sacs.

GEORGE STILMON JOHNSON, OF CROWLEY, LOUISIANA.

COMBINED SHAFT-SUPPORT AND ANTIRATTLER.

SPEGIEIOATTON formingpart of Letters Patent N 0. 686,406, dated November 12, 1901. Application filed March 23, 1901. Serial No. 52,586. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE STILMON JOHN- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Crowley, Acadia parish, and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Oombined Shaft-Support and Antirattler, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a combined shaftsupport and antirattler.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device designed to be applied to shafts during their manufacture and also after the same have been in use and adapted to strengthen and support the connection between the crossbar and the shafts and to brace the curved portion of the latter and to prevent the thillcoupling from rattling,

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a combined shaft-support and antirattler constructed in accordance with this invention and shown applied to a portion of a shaft and a cross-bar. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional View, partly in elevation, illustrating the arrangement of the antirattler-spring. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the transverse and a portion of the longitudinal brace.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a shaft connected to one end of a cross-bar 2 in the usual manner and provided 7 at its rear end with a thill-iron 3, terminating in an eye 4, which is pivoted by a couplingbolt 5 between a pair of forwardly-extending perforated ears 6 of an axle-clip 7, and the latter is provided with a'clip-plate 8, which is secured to the axle-clip by nuts 9. The foregoing parts are of the ordinary construction, and the present invention comprises a longitudinal brace 9, a transverse brace 10, and an antirattler-spring 11, all constructed from a flat steel ,bar and formed integral with one another; The longitudinal brace 9, which is inclined, extends from a point in rearjof the cross-bar 2 to the rear end of the shaft, and

the transverse brace 10, which is arranged at an angle to the longitudinal brace,extends from the front end thereof to the crossbar 2, near the adjacent end thereof.

The device is provided at the angle formed by the braces with an eye 12, which is secured to the lower face of the shaft by means of a bolt 13 orfother suitable fastening device, and the front end of the transverse brace is provided with an eye 14, which is secured to the lower face of the cross-bar by arbolt 15 or other suitable fastening device. The lower end of the longitudinal brace is connected with the lower end of the thill or shaft by a bolt16, passing through the thill or shaft, the thill-iron, and a perforation of the device, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2 of the accompanyin g drawings. The braces strengthen and increase the rigidity of the connection between the cross-bar and the shaft and brace and strengthen the bent portion of the shaft, making the latter more rigid at this portion.

The metal is reduced to form the antirattler-spring, which consists of a shank 17, having a lower curved portion 18 and a vertical approximately inverted-U-shaped loop 19, which is interposed between the eye of the thill-iron and the axle-clip and which is compressed when the shafts are coupled to the axle, whereby the resiliency of the spring will prevent the parts from rattling. The straight portion of the shank extends along the thill-iron, and the lower curved portion conforms to the configuration of and passes around the bottom of the eye 4, and the loop 11 extends upward above the eye, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The rear side of the loop depends'below the front portion of the axleclip and presents a slightly concave face to the same.

It will be seen that the device is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, that it is adapted to be readily applied to shafts in use as well as to those being manufactured, that it is capable of supporting and bracing the connection between the cross-bar and the shaft and the bent portion of the latter, and that it increases the rigidity of such parts and at'the same time prevents the thill-coupling from rattling.

What I claim is- 1. The combination with a shaft, and a cross-bar, of the combined support and antirattler comprising the inclined longitudinal brace extending from the lower end of the shaft to a point in rear of the cross-bar, the transverse brace extending from the front end of the longitudinal brace to the crossbar at a point between the ends thereof, and the antirattler-spring extending around the lower end of the shaft and terminating in a loop, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a shaft, and a cross-bar, of the combined support and antirattler consisting of a single piece of spring metal and comprising the longitudinal and transverse braces arranged at an angle to each other and secured to the shaft and to the cross-bar, and the antirattler-spring extending from the rear end of the longitudinal brace, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a shaft, of a brace supporting the same, and an antirattlerspring formed integral with the brace and consisting of a shaft having a curved portion extending around the lower face of the eye of the thill-iron, and an inverted-U-shaped loop located in rear of the said eye and arranged to be interposed between the same and an axle-clip, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE STILMON JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

F. M. JoPLIN, J. M. LYONS. 

